The tip for the tastiest tofu

Say wine, snacks or haute cuisine and the gourmands at online food magazine FavorFlav know where to drink, how to eat it and what to cook. This time our cheffies serve you: this is how you make tofu really tasty.

For those who want to eat less meat, tofu is an ideal solution. It's just a shame that if you don't prepare it well, the comparison to a sponge is inevitable. With this ingredient, you'll definitely solve that problem.

Do you still not understand why people chew on that tasteless, tough tofu? I completely get you; until a few years ago, I also stayed far away from the stuff. Until I tasted dishes in Asia where it was so incredibly delicious, I was immediately sold. Nowadays, I also eat tofu raw or fried with some sea salt as a protein-rich snack, but if you're not there yet, cornstarch is your salvation.

Cornstarch
I got the idea from Ottolenghi’s black pepper tofu. In that recipe, Yotam coats cubes of firm tofu in cornstarch before frying them in a thick layer of oil. This creates an extremely crispy layer around the tofu that stays crispy even when you incorporate it into dishes. Ottolenghi adds soy sauce to the dish, but the tofu remains crispy.

Anyway, black pepper tofu is the recipe that will convert you to the tofu faith, just wait and see. I highly recommend following it from start to finish, but the simple technique is suitable for any recipe. Making simple noodles for the week? Add some crispy tofu on top and you have a delicious meal.

Firm tofu
It's important to use firm tofu for this technique. No panic now, that's just the standard tofu you find at the supermarket. Silken tofu is too soft and falls apart when you fry it so hard. First, let the tofu drain well: wrap a few layers of kitchen paper around it and place something heavy on top. Let it sit like this for half an hour before you coat the tofu in cornstarch and fry it.